How the Gandhis sustained their protest amid restrictions
The Gandhi siblings employed tactical maneuvers to sustain their protest against police restrictions during the INDIA bloc's march to the Election Commission. Rahul Gandhi climbed atop a police barricade near the NITI Aayog office on Sansad Marg, waving the Tricolour flag as cameras captured the moment, before being joined by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a bus parked near Akashvani Bhawan.
As detained MPs were being taken away by police, the two siblings and their supporters walked past policemen and entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises, relocating the protest to a new location. Congress leaders K C Venugopal, Deepender Singh Hooda, Charanjeet Singh Channi, Pawan Khera, Imran Pratapgarhi and Praniti Shinde accompanied them. The leaders settled under a tree inside the premises and insisted on meeting the Election Commission.
The maneuver transformed what appeared to be the end of the opposition march into a day-long standoff. The original march had set out from Parliament Street to the Election Commission headquarters, just 300 metres away, demanding action against the Chief Election Commissioner over allegations of electoral irregularities and issues with the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Delhi Police had halted the march with barricades and detained several Opposition MPs.
